It all began with the Human Order Incineration half a year ago.
At that time, Goetia sent seven Holy Grails to various eras, creating seven Singularities to destroy humanity. These Holy Grails fell into the hands of different people in each Singularity, resulting in different situations.
For example, after Gilles de Rais obtained a Holy Grail, he used it to create Jeanne Alter, who then summoned Servants and hordes of wyverns, turning all of France into a nation of evil dragons.
And in this sixth Singularity, the situation revolved around Vortigern.
"We don't know how Vortigern appeared, only that half a year ago, when we were summoned in succession due to His Majesty's manifestation, this Singularity was already on the verge of total destruction by Vortigern." Gawain explained.
Half a year ago, shortly after Vortigern appeared in this Singularity, Arthur, who was supposed to be in eternal slumber in Avalon, was awakened. Since the one destroying the Human Order was Vortigern, the white dragon of Britain, the most reliable force to defeat him was naturally King Arthur, the red dragon of Britain, who had once vanquished him.
Thus, Arthur was awakened, and due to his manifestation, the Knights of the Round Table under him were also summoned in succession. In the end, within this Singularity, the Knights of the Round Table, led by King Arthur, appeared at the peak of their power.
Lancelot, Gawain, Tristan, Percival, Kay, Bedivere, Gareth, Gaheris, Agravain, Palamedes, King Pellinore, Bors, and Mordred, who, for some reason, appeared as a woman.
Except for Galahad, who never responded to the summons, the fourteen above, including Arthur, challenged Vortigern to resolve this Singularity.
The battle lasted half a day, and the outcome was devastating.
Aside from Gawain, Tristan, and Lancelot, who stood here now, and Mordred, who was absent, all the other Knights of the Round Table perished. Vortigern, empowered by the Holy Grail, was far stronger than he had been in life. Even Arthur and Gawain had little strength to resist him. The release of the Holy Sword was thwarted countless times.
Having been defeated by the Holy Sword in the past, Vortigern was extremely wary of it. He even willingly took several Noble Phantasms head-on just to prevent that attack.
Thus, Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table couldn't defeat Vortigern. Despite sacrificing so many comrades, against Vortigern with the Holy Grail, they only managed to drag the situation into a near-mutual stalemate.
"At that time, His Majesty was so gravely injured he couldn't release the Holy Sword. The rest of us were in a similar state. I'm truly ashamed—after sacrificing so many comrades, we still failed to eradicate that demon."
As she spoke, Gawain clenched her fists tightly. Her face and eyes were visibly filled with grief and anger. For her, witnessing the deaths of her comrades again was not something she could easily accept.
"After that, due to the Holy Grail's power, Vortigern's body recovered quickly, while we had lost the strength to continue fighting… Just when we thought it was all over, Merlin suddenly appeared."
"Merlin?!" Naoki frowned. "She… appeared here?"
Lancelot nodded. "Merlin proposed a plan: His Majesty would make himself a living seal, and then we would eliminate both His Majesty and Vortigern together."
"A living seal… eliminate…"
The somewhat familiar situation made Naoki's frown deepen.
"As for the result… as you can see, this Singularity still exists. We failed." Gawain gritted her teeth. "When he was about to be sealed by His Majesty, Vortigern made a wish to the Holy Grail. To avoid being killed and to gather strength, he used the Holy Grail to deploy a Unique Barrier covering the entire Singularity—that's what Merlin said."
After deploying the Unique Barrier, Vortigern hid within it, trying to buy time to recover. To prevent him from having a chance to rise again, Arthur once more allowed Merlin to use the living seal method, using himself as a vessel to seal Vortigern, suppressing his recovery to the bare minimum.
But that still wasn't enough to completely halt Vortigern's growing power. His Mana continued to gather and manifest within the Unique Barrier, forming what were called dragon calamities.
"The dragon calamities are manifestations of Vortigern's magic. By eliminating them, we can suppress his recovery to some extent. Thus, we received artificial Holy Grails from Merlin and have been continuously eliminating the dragon calamities that keep appearing."
"But that won't defeat Vortigern." Artoria said. "At best, it only delays his reemergence as much as possible. To truly eradicate him…"
*SHUA!*
A dazzling golden light appeared in Naoki's hand.
—The Star's Holy Sword · Excalibur.
Naoki raised the Holy Sword. "This is what's needed."
Merlin from Artoria's side once said that this Singularity could only be resolved by Naoki. Indeed, if it was Vortigern, with Arthur now defeated, only Naoki, the third Holy Sword wielder, could defeat him.
Of course, alongside Artoria.
Seeing the Holy Sword in Naoki's hand, Gawain, Lancelot, and Tristan exchanged glances. Then, Tristan, as if realizing something, said, "So that's it… That's what His Majesty meant by his final words."
"Hm? Did Arthur say something before?"
"When we were dragged into the Unique Barrier and the White Dragon Nation appeared, we only met His Majesty once in the throne room. At that time, His Majesty said one sentence—[He will surely come]."
Tristan explained.
"From his meaning, His Majesty said… no, he believed that someone would definitely come to this Singularity afterward…"
In an instant, everyone's gazes turned to Naoki.
[He will surely come].
At that moment, Arthur likely meant [Naoki will surely come]. As his former Master, the one who inherited his Holy Sword, Naoki would never sit idly by during the Human Order Incineration. No matter what, he would come to this Singularity.
He (Arthur) believed in him (Naoki).
Naoki fell silent for a long time, then gently placed his hand on his chest. "In the end, the path you chose was to believe in me?"
Though his power no longer resided in Naoki's body, gone for the past ten years, somehow, at this moment, Naoki could feel his presence—and could feel that he was still fighting desperately.
For the past half year, every minute, every second, he never stopped, all because he believed Naoki would come.
A trust too heavy to bear.
"I can't help but respond to it."
Naoki gripped the Holy Sword—for the first time, he held it with all his strength.
That man entrusted him with all his faith, so Naoki would use all his power to repay that trust.
"Hold on just a bit longer, Arthur."
"I'll come to wake you up soon."